Istanbul's famous avenue to be refurbished

The exteriors of buildings located on Istanbul's favorite tourism and shopping center, İstiklal Avenue, will be renovated in order to restore the dirty and unpleasant silhouette of the avenue, which draws huge numbers of tourists with its historical appearance, shops, pubs, cafes and central location. As part of a project by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Urban Design Directorate, each building on the avenue, which is home to both modern and historical buildings, will be photographed to create unity in the appearance of the buildings. Moreover, the historical buildings will be compared to their original facades and the best possible scenery will be determined after matching the buildings' silhouettes. The directorate also will work on the colors and the designs of the buildings in accordance with the pedestrian traffic and the variety of shops on the avenue.

The team that will undertake the design process of the project following the tender of the İBB. They will work hand in hand with architects, restaurateurs and designers and they will also prepare an alternative project. After they complete the project, they will present it to the municipality. The renovation of the buildings will be conducted according to the official project that will be confirmed by the municipality. The İBB will be able to demand any changes in the appearances of the buildings during the restoration process. If there will be buildings that should be demolished, the reconstruction project will be based on an alternative urban design project.

For the first phase of the project, which has been on the agenda since Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş was the Beyoğlu Municipality mayor, metal signboards

were removed and replaced with wooden signboards. The extravagant advertisements of shops and stores were replaced with more proper designs, and some of the buildings were renovated with the previous initiative of the Beyoğlu Municipality. The current İBB project will entirely change the appearance of İstiklal Avenue.